Walking in the Air
by AlexMontgomery
Summary: The Morning Star is beautiful, immaculate, and angry. Tired of being the last Star in the sky, she plans to strike where it hurts each, and every immortal; the children. When the kids Elisa care about are effected by the Star's rage, she's more than willing to team up with Jack Frost and the other Guardian's. Whether they want her to, or not. Jack/OC Rated - T
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

"_Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight. Wish I may, wish I might, have the wish I wish tonight…"_

The boy leaned over the edge of his father's land. There was a spectacular view of the world below them. A flurry of gold dust fluttered into the sky. The boy reached out for the dust, it collected into his cupped hands. A look of wonder crossed his face. Popping onto his feet, the boy ran into the large, skyscraper-like building behind him. He bumped into several workers on his way up to the top floor, where his dad, the Wishing Star, worked as head honcho.

On the top floor, slender, pale man, with a Norwegian accent was in conversation with a large, muscle bound man in a toga. The muscular man wore a belt with three diamond studs.

The Norwegian man had long, blonde hair, pulled back into a low ponytail. He was dressed in a bright yellow suite with a gold necktie. This was Beste Onsker, the Wishing Star, the North Star, the Evening Star.

"Dad!" his son shouted. "Dad! Dad! Dad!"

"Easy Orso," Beste said. He placed his hands on his son's shoulders then sank onto one knee. "Now, what's all this fuss about?"

Panting, Orso showed him the gold dust in his hands. "I caught a wish!"

"First one you caught, en?" the man in the toga, Orion said. "Perhaps we should pick this up some other time, Beste."

"Sure, just drop by," Beste smiled. Orion left the room, leaving the father and son duo. "Now, you know what we do when we catch wishes?"

Orso's face twisted. He should know this one. "We put them in their own special orb," the Wishing Star explained. He walked up to his desk and took out a glass ball. "Then store them with the child's other wishes in Storage."

Nodding, Orso walked up to the glass ball, and allowed the dust to fall onto it. A blue-grey cloud began to form inside. "But," Best said with a warning tone. He picked up the orb and held it level to his eye. "Keep this in mind, boy. Wish fulfillment is very dangerous. That is why most wishes are run by me before any, if at all, are granted."

"I don't understand," said Orso. "Why is that so dangerous?"

Orso Onsker, known to most of the world Ursa Minor, was a mix of both Beste, and his wife Ursa Major. Dirty blonde hair, a mix of Ursa's brown, and Beste's blonde. He had Ursa's nose and eyebrows, Beste's nose, cheeks and eye color. When the worlds children and adults looked up at him, he was not far from his mother, and had Beste as a part of his constellation.

Beste was about to answer his son's question when the receptions from the intercom interrupted them. "Mr. Onsker."

"Talk to me," Beste sighed.

"We have an issue in the Sunrise Department."

Holding his breath, Beste rolled his eyes to the upper left. _'Please don't tell me,' _Beste prayed silently.

"What is it?" he asked out loud.

"Etoile DuMatin is having another rampage."

"Of course she is."

The Sunrise Department was where the Stars that lingered in the morning worked. The last Star in the sky was a woman named Etoile DuMatin, the Morning Star. She was a beautiful young woman with strawberry blonde hair, blue eyes, and full, red lips. The dress she always wore bore the colors of the dawn. Around her eyes, she always wore lavender eye shadow.

At the moment, this beautiful woman was showing behavior that was anything put. Chairs and tables were thrown around the Sunrise Department conference room. Etoile was cursing in her native language, French. Beste was no stranger to Etoile's tantrums, they were a little too frequent. "Etoile," Best said, watching the scene play out.

He was ignored. The Morning Star continued her French ran, still throwing the room's furniture about. _"Etoile!" _Beste said, this time more firmly.

"What's the point?!" she screamed, turning to him. Her fair flew in front of her face. "What's the point?! Not once dose someone every say, 'Look at the morning star. See how beautiful.' It's always the Constellations! It's always you! No one ever admires me! Their too busy sleeping!"

"Etoile," Beste pinched the bridge of his nose. He had heard it all before. "We've been though this enough as it is. We, the Stars, watch over the children at night."

"What child get's up early enough to see me?!" Etoile snapped. "Even on a school day, they're not looking at me, they're getting ready for school!"

"It doesn't matter if they see us or when they do. So long as we're there for them when they need someone to look out for them. Even when they feel like no one is. That's a Star's purpose."

"Bah!"

Etoile stomped off, hissing at anyone who stared at her. Pinching the bride of his nose again, Beste let out a deep sigh. When MiM chose her to be the Morning Star, she was a charming lady. As the years went by, she became more and more frustrated with her position as a Star. Yes, it was the Stars job to watch over the children, when it seemed like no one else in their lives would. But, Etoile seemed to want to be praised and recognized as something spectacular, something beautiful.

One of the main reason's why Beste didn't let her go was that she _did_ have a point. Most children were either asleep or too busy getting ready for school when she was out. And very few parents ever too their child out in the morning to look at her. They would always take them out to see the North Star, Ursa Major, and Minor, Orion, and the other Constellations.

When that fact really sunk in, Etoile's rage began to come out. By now, Beste was beginning to worry. There was no furry like a woman scorned, after all. His yellow eyes glanced out the window, the Moon's face perfectly framed. "Let's keep an eye on her," Beste muttered. "For now, anyway."

* * *

**Authors Note:** Yes this thing was named after the song from _The Snowman_. Because if there's one thing I cannot do, is come up with my own titles. Don't ever ask me to name a bridge.


	2. Chapter One

**Chapter One **

"So, this is how it ends? At the hands of a couple of kids, via an onslaught of snowballs."

The brown haired teen let out a yelp as a snowball narrowly missed her leg by six inches. She had herself hidden as best as she could behind her car, Reno. The two kids she was babysitting for the weekend easily got the upper hand on her in their snowball fight. She asked for it when she made it two against one.

Two more snowballs hit the side of her car. _'Seriously,' _she though biting her lower lip. _'They're not out of amo yet?!'_

Sixteen-year-old Elisa Hill scooped up a handful of snow. Upon molding it into a ball, she leaped onto her feet. She ran out of her hiding spot, letting out a wild battle cry. The apposing snowballs slammed into Elisa's chest. One after another. The ball she made slipped out of her hand, as Elisa fell to her knees.

She tilted her upper body back slightly, and lifted her arm's into the air, a la _Platoon_. The last snowball hit Elisa in the face, smearing over her glasses in the process. The teen felt to the right, landing limp on the snow covered ground. Her eyes closed, she could hear the kids walk up to her. "I think this mean's we won," said Jamie, the elder of the two kids.

"Elisa would have wanted us to have her wallet," said Sophie, his younger sister.

Elisa's eyes snapped open, sitting up she grabbed Sophie under her arms. "Do that and my ghost will haunt you for the rest of your lives," Elisa said. She lifted the four-year-old off the ground as she stood up.

The toddler began squealing with delight as the older girl placed her on her shoulders. "We won," Jamie said, matter of factly. "You said if we won, we can go out to eat tonight."

"Yes, yes, I did say that," Elisa rolled her eyes. Of course, she would have taken them out, even on the off chance she won. "So, what do we want tonight?"

"What's this I hear?" someone asked. "Dinner plans?"

A sleek, blue car pulled up in front of the yard. The passeenger window rolled down, revealing a girl with red hair, wearing a cheerleading uniform. "Hi Gwyn!" Jamie greeted.

"Hi!" Sophie waved.

"I could eat you two up" Gwyn murmured to herself.

"What's up?" asked Elisa. "I though there was a game today."

"Not for another few hours," said the person in the drivers seat. It was a little difficult to tell, but Elisa could tell it was Kirk. "We're heading over to the pizzeria before we head out."

"You should come with us!" a third person exclaimed. The brunette had taken to calling him 'Manly' since they first met. The nickname stuck. "Put the kids and the car, and go."

Elisa's eyes traveled from Jamie at her side, to Sophie on her shoulders. "Sounds good to me," said the brunette boy.

"Yeah, yeah!" chanted Sophie.

"The tribe has spoken," Elisa shrugged. "We'll met you in a few minutes."

"All right!" Gwyn pumped her fist.

Kirk's car pulled out, soon disappearing into the distance. The athletic trio had been Elisa's friends for quite some time. Both Kirk Walker, and Manly Ide were on the high school's basketball team. And when it wasn't basketball, it was table tennis. Not that there was a team for that.

Gwyn Keel on the other hand was on the cheerleading squad. If there was one thing Elisa would never understand it was the whole 'cheerleaders are bitches' stereotype. The only thing that changed in Gwyn was that she became more make-up savvy, and the other's on the squad were pretty cool. One of them could even speak Klingon.

Elisa was probably the only one in their tight group that wasn't athletic. She was more of a 'join-the-school-musical' person.

By the time Elisa's group caught up with her friends, they had already found a table, and most likely placed their orders already. "Hey, Jamie," Elisa said in a hushed tone. "You mind taking a seat with Sophie while I place our order?"

"Sure," the boy in question nodded.

"Keep and eye on them," Elisa mouthed to Gwyn, who nodded.

"Hi, how can I help you?" the boy behind the desk asked.

Elisa ordered a small mushroom, a medium pepperoni, and three fountain beverages. She was filling two of the empty cups when she felt someone push her from behind. Her hand slipped, and the falling liquid landed on her hand. Elisa whipped herself around to find Mindy Raymond. She was a black haired girl with a Meg Ryan haircut. Now if only Mindy could pull the look off.

While the cheerleaders Elisa knew were some of the nicer people she knew, Mindy on the other hand… was not. "Whoops," Mindy gave her a false smile. "Sorry, Elisa. I didn't see you there."

"Really?" Elisa asked. "You didn't see me? I'd get my eyes checked if I were you."

To drive home her point, she adjusted her glasses. "Says one person," replied Mindy. "Did I hear right? A small mushroom and medium pepperoni? Tsk-tsk. Wouldn't want all that cheese to go to your thighs."

'_Yeah, because I'm going to devour this much all at the same time, on my own,' _Elisa thought, resisting the overpowering urge to roll her eyes. _'With that much cheese and grease, I _really_ want to throw it up.'_

"I'll keep that in mind," Elisa gave her classmate her own false smile.

As she headed to her table, Elisa pretended to be shooting herself in the side of her head with her fingers. "Sorry, Elisa," Gwyn grimaced.

"For what?"

"Mindy. I'm not going to play dumb, I know she's messing with you to get to me."

"What's going on?" asked Jamie.

"You see that girl there?" Gwyn jerked her thumb in Mindy's direction.

"The one with the large butt?" he asked.

Kirk's drink nearly came out of his nose at this. He pound the table with his fist a couple of times before he stretched his arm to the side, waiting for a high five from Jamie. The boy clapped hand's with Kirk's. "Yeah, her," Gwyn smirked. "To make a long story short, last year, she and I tried out for the cheer squad last year, out of the two of us, I was the one that made it. She wasn't exactly a graceful loser."

"What does that have to do with Elisa, though?"

"We just so happen to have a few classes together," Elisa explained. "So, whatever's aimed for Gwyn, usually ends up directed at me."

"That's dumb."

"Tell me about it, kid."

"It's not dumb," Manly growled. "It's pathetic. It was over a year ago, and she still can't get over it."

"Manly, it's fine," said Elisa. "I can handle was she has to dish out."

"Same goes for me," added Gwyn.

Sophie suddenly slid out of her booster seat, walked over to Elisa, and tugged at her sleeve. The brunette lowered herself, allowing Sophie to whisper something into her ear. "Yeah, sure," Elisa nodded. "Do you need help or…"

"I got it," piped Sophie.

The blonde girl went scuffling off down stairs to the restroom. "Why don't you just talk to your teacher's about it, though?" asked Jamie.

"It doesn't do a whole lot of help these day's, kiddo," Manly explained. "At this age, detention is just a slap on the wrist."

The table soon kept themselves occupied when Jamie started a game of paper football. "Kirk," the kid behind the desk called.

"Finally," Manly sighed.

Both Kirk and Manly got up to collect their order when Jamie leaned over to Elisa's side. "Sophie's been gone for a while," he said in a hushed tone. "You think she's doing all right?"

Elisa's face twisted. She really should have been back by now. "Gwyn," she said, adjusting her glasses. "Can you hold the fort for me until I get back? Which includes getting our things if I'm called before I get ba-"

"Say no more," Gwyn's hazel eyes rolled to the side. "I'll get it."

"Thanks."

Making sure her ponytail was tight, Elisa headed down stairs.

Both men's and women's restrooms were downstairs, next to the rec room and bar that was usually rented parties. Although the bar was always B.Y.O.B. Elisa hadn't been in there in years, not since her parent's, back when they were still together, rented it for her eighth birthday part. But she never liked traveling down the stairs to the bathroom. The steps were too small for the water skis Elisa called her feet.

Almost as soon as she reached the stairs Elisa could hear rapid pounding on a wooden door. Quickening her pace as best she could. One of the chair's from the rec room had been prompted up under the doorknob to the woman's room.

Elisa leaped down the remaining stairs, ran up to the door, and tore the chair out. The door opened and Sophie came bounding out of the room. She latched on to Elisa, she was shaking, most likely trying not to cry while beating the door. "Sophie, honey, are you okay?" Elisa asked, sinking down to her knees.

"The door wouldn't open…" whimpered Sophie.

"I know. Did you hear anything or anyone?"

"No."

"That's okay," Elisa stroked the girl's hair.

'_I have a good feeling who's behind this.'_

Upstairs, Elisa left Sophie in Gwyn's care. The little girl sat on Gwyn's lap, hugging her close. Although Gwyn asked Elisa twice what was going on, her question fell upon death years. Elisa followed Mindy, who had a small pizza box in hand, out of the shop. "Hey!" Elisa said firmly. Mindy stopped in place, and glanced over her shoulder. "Where do you get off messing with little kids?"

Mindy grinned. "I don't know what you're talking about," she replied.

"Cut the crap," Elisa growled. "I never bought your 'play dumb' routine before, and I never will."

With an arched brow, Mindy turned to face Elisa. "What are you going to do about it?" she challenged. "What proof do you have? What's the worst that could happen to me? I get band from this place? Ha! There's more than one place to get pizza. Besides, as far as anyone knows, it was an honest accident."

Elisa ground her teeth. Damn it, Mindy had a point. There weren't any security camera's in the hallway, so there was no proof that Mindy did it. Even if she went to the manager about it, the worst that could happen is Mindy would be banned from the premise. Even if she did talk to them about it, Mindy would play the victim.

Mindy smiled. "Thought so."

'_Son of a…'_

So, apparently Mindy wasn't above scaring a little kid half-to death if it would push Elisa's buttons, just to push Gwyn's. It was over a year ago, and she can't just get over it and move on with her life?

With an overwhelming urge to kick something, preferably Mindy, Elisa turned around with the intention to head back inside. Next time Mindy tried to pull something on Elisa, there would be no holding back on her part. Fists would be flying. She didn't care where she was, a petty rivalry was no excuse to drag a little girl into this. _"What the-?!"_ Mindy screeched.

Elisa whipped around. Mindy's car was completely iced over. It was as though a hail storm had passed, a very harsh hail storm, and only Mindy's car was affected. Large icicles hung from the rearview mirrors. The doors were frozen shut, and mixed with the car's grey color, the vehicle looked like it was made of snow.

Mindy gripped the door handle in her attempt to pry it open, with very little luck. Elisa returned to her table, snickering. When Elisa returned, Sophie looked like she calmed down after the ordeal. Though, upon sitting down, the blonde girl immediately clung to Elisa's arm. "What happened?" Jamie asked.

"I don't know how," the brunette shrugged. "But Mindy's car is completely frozen."

"What?" Manly asked with a laugh.

"Looks like the thing was carved out of snow."

Gwyn clapped her hands together. "Would've loved to see her rat face when she saw."

Kirk's face twisted in confusion. "But the weather didn't say anything about hail," he said. "And that would have had to be a _pret-ty_ bad storm if it coated a car."

Should Elisa mention that it was only Mindy's car? Of course, Kirk was right. The weather report never said anything about hail, just a chance of snowfall. And that would have had to be some storm if it only hit one, tiny area. "I don't know," Jamie said with a knowing smirk. "Stranger things happen."

* * *

Elisa emerged from the bathroom with her toothbrush clamped between her teeth. She would be spending the night at the Bennett house from Thursday night, tonight, to Sunday morning. The kids mom was left that morning for a business conference, and, really, staying with them was easier than having them stay at Elisa's full house. That last thing anyone needed was her stepbrother Ian, corrupting them.

After she put Sophie down for bed, she took a much needed shower. Her hair, now out of it's ponytail, was left damp, and her glasses were still a little foggy around the edges. Her purple flannel pajamas had white trees and flower prints on it, a favorite pair. Elisa's hands gripped either side of the towel around her neck, as her hair was still a little damp.

She walked up to Jamie's room. Elisa lifted her right hand to tap the knuckle against the door. He had another five minutes before it was light's out for him, Elisa was just going to remind him of that when, "I can't believe you actually did that," she heard the boy say. "Yeah, I know, but I doubt that this'll get that girl off their backs… I dunno. Maybe you should freeze her gas tank if we come across her again. She'll probably think her car broke down or something."

That was… weird. True, she only knew Jamie and Sophie for about six months, but Elisa never knew he had imaginary friends. She didn't think he needed one, Jamie had his own circle of friends, so…

Well, who the heck was Elisa to judge. It wasn't like she didn't have imaginary friends when she was a kid. Heck, she even had mental conversations with the characters in the books she read. So long as no one got hurt, Elisa wasn't about to put a stop to it.

* * *

**Authors Note:** For the record, Elisa's name is pronounced 'e-lee-sah.' Wasn't until after I named her did I realize how many ways there were to pronounced 'Elisa.'

And Mindy is a plot device. Although, her last name is based off of someone who picked on me in middle school.

I'm aiming to get in a little more excitement within the next couple of chapters, but… gotta introduce Elisa first.


	3. Chapter Two

**Chapter Two**

There was a collective sigh when the final bell rang, releasing the students from Burgress Public High School. The first work week of December was done, with a little more than two weeks until Christmas. Elisa glanced down at the math test in her hand. C-, math was easily her worst subject. "Screw it," Elisa grumbled, dropping the test into the nearest waste bin.

"Elisa!" Manly suddenly wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "We still on for Sunday?"

"Yep. I just need written consent. No backing out, Manly."

"Hey, in my defense, you've already done this."

That Sunday they planed going to the tattoo parlor for Manly's first tattoo, and Elisa's second. Her original was a fiery circle around her ankle. Not like her mom knew about it. No, her step dad, Lewis, had an unfortunate habit of not reading the fine print when he signed something. That was how Elisa, and her stepbrother, Ian, got theirs over the summer.

Speaking of Ian…

At that moment, a boy with a similar body built as Manly walked past them. His dirty blonde hair was shaggy, and a little long. "One moment," Elisa said, slipping out of Manly's arm. She half-jogged up to the shaggy-haired boy. "Ian. Do me a solid, get your dad to sign this."

Elisa took a slip of paper out of her wallet and handed it to her stepbrother. "What are you doing?" he asked. "If you're using me to manipulate dad, I wanna know."

"Okay, first off, you've done the same thing," the brunette shot back. "And if you have to know, I'm getting another tattoo."

"Wow, didn't think my stepsis was this much of a delinquent," Ian smirked.

"Did you forget that I only have my first one because of you?"

"Just what do I get out of this?"

"Well, I could _not _tell mom that you're the one who ruined her petunia's with the lawnmower when you actually tried to _jump it over _the-"

"Gimme that," Ian snatched the slip from her hand.

"Bring it over as soon as possible," said Elisa. "I'm going on Sunday, and I don't know when Mrs. Bennett will be back."

"Whatever."

The brunette looked back at Manly as her stepbrother walked off. "I think Ian has a point," said Manly. "You are becoming a delinquent. Blackmailing Ian, and taking advantage of Lewis…"

"What?" Elisa asked, her voice cracking. "If you can't have fun with your stepsiblings, what's the point in having them?"

"Yeah, those aren't super-villain thoughts at all."

"Shut up."

* * *

Elisa picked herself up on the stepstool, peering into the cupboard. "Ah, there it is," she said reaching in. "Coming down, Soph."

A bag of sugar fell from the teenagers hand, into Sophie's waiting arms. Elisa stepped off the stool, which was quickly occupied by Sophie, and went over to the bowl on the counter. After she picked up the girl from preschool the two began to bake cookies from scratch. Luckily Elisa found a recipe in Mrs. Bennett's catalogue.

By the time they were reading to dollop the mix onto a metal sheet, the front door opened, and Jamie walked in. "What's going on?" he asked as he dropped his backpack onto the floor beside Elisa's.

"We're baking cookies!" Sophie beamed.

"What kind?"

"Sugar," replied Elisa.

"I'd rather have chocolate chip…"

"Well kid, we don't got any."

"Sugar's fine," Jamie sighed. "What happened with that girl with the big butt?"

Elisa snorted. "I don't think she can access her car still," she said. "As far as I know, she came to and from school by bus."

"Well, it serves her right," the boy muttered.

Elisa debated on whether or not she should verbally agree with him. Would that promote bad behavior? "I still don't get how that happened," Elisa said, plopping a spoonful of cookie mix onto the sheet.

"It was Jack!" piped Sophie.

The brown haired teen gave the little girl an odd look. Jamie looked slightly nervous, which only added to Elisa's confusion. "Jack?" she asked.

"Jack Frost!" Sophie beamed.

"Jack Frost?"

"Yeah," Jamie said, rubbing the back of his neck. "He's been dropping by since mid-November. He was with us yesterday, and froze that girl's car."

Elisa's suddenly looked back to the conversation Jamie was having with his imaginary friend last night. So it was something he shared with Sophie? That was something she didn't hear everyday. Or was he just Sophie's friend? No, Jamie wouldn't have been talking to himself otherwise.

The boy's face dropped. It was like he was a little disappointed, but at the same time he saw it coming. Whatever 'it' was. "You don't believe me," he said. It wasn't a question.

Wait, he _seriously_ believed in this Jack Frost? Crap, how'd she go about this without crushing him? What's the worst that could happen if she said no? Well, for starters, it could ruin childhood innocence, and Elisa didn't want that weighing on her conscience until she had kids of her own.

"You know what," Elisa said. "I don't know. I do believe that there are things in this world that can't be explained by science. So if you really do know a guy that can freeze cars, tell him he made my week."

Jamie gave her a lopsided smile. "Can I go play outside?" he asked.

"Any homework?"

"Nope."

"All right. Be back before it get's too dark, I should have diner ready by then."

He went speeding out of the house before Elisa could give anymore instructions. "Did you mean that?" asked Sophie. She began to draw a circle in the flour covered counter. "You really don't know if you believe or not?"

"Yeah, I meant it, Sophie."

Of course, if she was older Elisa would have liked to say that things happen when you grow up. That she wanted to believe in the unknown but there was a constant 'what if' hanging over her.

Elisa hoped she wasn't going to get a 'is there a Santa Claus' question after this. That was definitely something she didn't want to discus with a couple of kids that weren't her own. Elisa herself stopped believing in Santa, the Easter Bunny and the like when she was about eight, almost nine. Around the same time her parents got divorced. She spent many night's wishing it didn't happen, even wrote it down on her Christmas list.

The divorce was final by the time she was ten. Her mom, Ava, got full custody of Elisa and her older siblings (granted her brother was nineteen at that point). As she grew older, Elisa found out the man her dad really was. It was most likely the event that turned Elisa into a cynic when it came to love.

Her wish never came true. Reality set it. Magic was dead. Something she would want to be responsible for when it came to kids? Kids that weren't hers? Heck no. It sounded better to just say she didn't know than to say she didn't believe them.

Still, there's was something both wonderful, and a bit odd. The odd part was namely because of Jamie's age. The kid was going on twelve now, and was in for some big, uncomfortable, changes. In Elisa's experience, it was around this age when kid's stopped believing. But it was wonder _because_ he was still believing at this age. But, sadly, it couldn't last forever.

After Elisa put the cookies in the oven, she began working on dinner that night. Sophie sat in front of the TV, coloring. As she waited for water in the pot to boil, Elisa read the directions on the back of the mac and cheese box. The phone suddenly rang, and immediately went to get it. "Hello."

"Elisa," Mrs. Bennett greeted her. "Hi, I had some free time, and thought I'd check in."

"Oh, hi," Elisa smiled. Her eyes glanced back at the pot. "I'm just making dinner right now. Sophie's drawing, and Jamie's outside playing."

"Good, good. Has there's been any trouble?"

Elisa bit her low lip. Should she tell her about the accident at the pizzeria yesterday? "We had a minor accident yesterday," said Elisa. "Nothing too major."

"Always nice to hear."

By now Elisa was more than aware of Sophie tugging at her shirt. "I think Sophie want's to talk to you," Elisa said with a smirk.

"Oh, sure, put her on!"

Elisa handed the phone to the small blonde. She walked up to the back door and poked her head out. "Hey, squirt!" Elisa called. "You're mom's on the phone if you want to talk to her!"

"Okay!" the boy replied.

Exhaling through her nose, Elisa slid the door close. Jamie's action's caught her attention. Appeared to be talking to someone, he was silent for a moment, when he gripped his stomach, and laughed. Her thought's suddenly went back to the conversation they had a couple of hours ago; about his imaginary friend Jack Frost. What better way to talk to someone like that than outside in the snow?

She shook her head, no use dwelling on something like this.

By the time both kids had the chance to talk to their mother, dinner was nearly done. Elisa asked the kids to clean up, and things should be ready. Within minutes the three sat around the table with the mac and cheese, and a container of chickpeas.

The siblings had a look of discomfort on their faces as they chewed the macaroni. Elisa sighed. "Undercooked again?" she asked.

"Yes," Sophie replied quickly.

"No," Jamie said, glaring at his sister. "It's fine."

"You don't need to sugar coat it," said Elisa. Gathering the pasta in her fork she shoveled it into her mouth. "Undercooked."

"At least it's not meat," Jamie smiled weakly.

Elisa had to nod in agreement at this. It wasn't as though she couldn't cook, it was that she had little patients for cooking. It was usually pasta that suffered the most. She either undercooked it, or the water frothed over. On the other hand, with mean, Elisa was usually much more careful.

The bell on the timer went off. "Looks like the cookies are officially done," Elisa smiled.

Getting up, she put on a couple of oven mitts, and cot the cookie sheet out of the oven. Her eyes glanced up to the kids, and back to what she was doing as she slid the cookies onto a cooling rack next to the plate of cookies. If Elisa could have found a second cookie sheet, this could have been done a lot sooner. "Can I ask you something about this Jack Frost, Jamie?" she asked. "I'm curious."

That was definitely true. Of all the imaginary friends to have, this was something different. Good different, but different all the same. This question seemed to make Jamie's face brighten. "Okay."

"How'd you meet someone like Jack Frost?"

"When this pictures he drew on the window frost came to life."

That was definitely new. Elisa was no expert on Jack Frost, heck the most she knew was the 'nipping at your nose' expression and the Rankin-Bass special. "The… pictures…" her voice trailed off. "Came to life…? I didn't know he could do that."

"Yeah, you should've seen it! He even made it snow in my room!"

Now, that was more like it. Pictures on window frost coming to life, it was a cool idea, but certainly not something she thought of when she thought Jack Frost. But, still, this kid had an imagination. And his enthusiasm, that was something that really got Elisa smiling. "You're really sure you don't know if you believe?" Jamie asked her, snapping her out of her thoughts.

She gave him a weak smile. "Yeah, I'm sure," she said. "But, I like the enthusiasm you have when you talk about him. He must be pretty important to you."

"He's my best friend!"

"So, how long have you known him then?"

The boy paused for a moment to think. "A little over a year," he said. "Maybe a year and a-half. He visit's every so often during summer and fall, but usually stays longer during the winter."

Elisa gave him a nod and a shrug. "Yeah, that makes sense."

But an imaginary friend that comes and goes? Well, then again, Jamie was getting older, and the way he talked about him he was more his friend than Sophie's. "So, who want's cookies after dinner?" she asked the two.

"I do! I do!" chanted Sophie. The little blonde pointed at Elisa's plate. "But Elisa's not even done!"

With a lopsided grin, Elisa rolled her eyes. This Jack Frost thing was innocent enough. And it seemed like Jamie was having fun. He wasn't hurting anyone. So, who was Elisa to tell him to stop, that it wasn't normal for someone his age? It would happen eventually, but it wouldn't come from Elisa.

* * *

**Authors Note:** One of the things I'm gonna say honestly bugs me with these kinds of stories is that it's about a teenaged girl who still believes. Show me one of that in real life, and I'll _consider_ the plausibility.


	4. Chapter Three

**Chapter Three**

"_Hold on Elisa!" Gwen shouted to her._

_Elisa looked up at the tree branch. It was getting harder for her to hold on. In hindsight this was an incredibly stupid idea. Why did she think hiding in a tree over the lake was a good idea? Well, she could complain about this latter. _

_She glanced down at the thin ice, and fallen tree branch below her, Elisa was bound to fall in if she let go. Elisa heard the many stories of people falling through thin ice. Of cars that someone drove off the road, and were completely submerged with their drivers still inside._

_Finally Kirk and Jo finally came back with her dad and Mark. Elisa couldn't find it in her to be happy about this, her grip was slipping fast. Her dad told her to hang on, that he and Mark would get her down._

_Elisa was at her breaking point. Her hand slipped from the branch and she fell. "Woof! Woof!" Gwen shouted._

_Huh?_

Abby continued barking at the front door when Elisa woke up at morning. She slid her glasses on, and walked up to the door. "Ian?" she asked, upon opening it.

"Here," Ian said, handing her a piece of paper. "I got dad to sign it, he didn't read it."

Elisa needed a moment to remember what he was talking about. "Oh, thanks," she said.

"Jeez, what would your mom say when she finds out?"

"_If_ she finds out," Elisa corrected. "What would she say _if_ she finds out about her petunias?"

"I heard your threat loud and clear, yesterday," Ian shot back. "If Ava finds out, it'll be from your doing. Now, can I borrow your car?"

"No," Elisa said crossing her arms. "I'm going to need it if I have to drive the kids around."

Ian groaned at this. "Why are you the one who get's the car? _I'm _technically older!"

"Why did it take you three times to get your license?" she asked, closing the door on him. "I got mine on my first go."

Elisa looked down at Abby, who let out a low growl at her. The brunette really liked dogs, but Abby really didn't seem to like her. That was probably because Elisa openly mistook her for a Whippet.

* * *

Elisa huddled behind a snow mound with Gwyn, Manly, and Kirk. "Okay," Kirk said. "Here's the plan. We're gonna divide, so we can conquer."

"I don't think that's now the concept works," said Gwyn.

"Hey," Manly said in a hushed tone. "Does anyone else find it odd that it's quiet?"

"Shit," Elisa hissed. "He's right. Split!"

The four teen's raced out of their hiding spot, and out in the open. "There they go!" Monty shouted.

Elisa suddenly felt someone grab her by the arm. Manly flung her in the path of an oncoming snowball. It hit her in the shoulder, just as Manly let go. She fell back, into the snow. "Traitor!" Elisa shouted.

"Every man for himself!"

"Jerk!"

Manly soon ran out of sight. Elisa shot onto her feet, and took off running before the twins could catch up with her. Somehow, a simple sled ride with Sophie and chat with her friends, quickly turned into a snowball fight with Jamie's friends. Kids versus, teenagers. Of course, the teenagers were outnumbers. "Numbers don't win wards," Kirk told her.

"No, but they sure as hell help," Elisa responded.

Sliding to a stop by an old tree, Elisa grabbed onto a branch, and pulled herself up. After her dream last night, she was probably out of her mind. But, this wasn't anywhere near the lake, so she was good.

The minutes ticked by, Elisa rested her back against the trunk. Why would she remember her fall as a dream? She hadn't really thought about it for a while now.

During a snow day when she was eight, her class was involved in an epic snowball fight. Elisa go the idea to hide in a tree over the lake. After she dozed off the branch she sat on gave out. She grabbed onto another branch, by then it became a parent to Elisa that the ice beneath her was thin. By the time help came, she lost her grip, and the worst that happened was that she fractured her heel.

That was always a mystery to Elisa. She was positive that the ice was thin. But, as she grew older, Elisa chalked it up to the fact that she was afraid, she was just seeing things. It wasn't completely out there. The mind does things after all.

Elisa hadn't thought about it for a while, so why did it come back to her so suddenly? Why now after all this time?

Gwyn's screaming snapped Elisa out of her thought. "Okay, okay, uncle!" Gwyn squealed.

"That leaves, Kirk, Manly, and Elisa!" Caleb shouted.

Elisa readjusted her position. Below her she could see Manly lean against the tree, panting. Grinning like a Cheshire Cat, Elisa dropped a ball of snow onto Manly's head. He yelped as some of the snow slid down his back. "There he is!" Pippa shouted.

Within seconds Manly was pelted with snowballs by Pippa and Cupcake. "Okay!" Manly shouted, curling into a ball. "I give! I give! I give!"

"Manly's out!" called Cupcake.

'_Serve's you right,'_ Elisa grinned.

Sitting on her branch, she could see Jamie, Sophie, Monty, and the twins, search for Elisa and Kirk. The young man in question suddenly leaped onto the hood of his car, carrying snowballs in his left arm. He ran forward hurtling snowballs at the kids. They ran off, avoiding the small mounds of ice. A snowball hit Kirk in the head, Pippa and Cupcake had finally caught up. Kirk slipped, and fell back.

The tables were suddenly turned. Elisa friend was pelted with snow. Kirk suddenly stood up with his arm's into the air. "I'm out," he said.

"That leaves Elisa," said Sophie.

"I haven't seen her since they split up, though," said Monty.

Elisa smirked. At this rate, she pretty much won this. And all she had to do was sit in a tree. With that though in mind, Elisa leaned against the trunk, and waited for the kids to admit defeat.

A snowball suddenly beat against her cheek. "In the tree!" Jamie shouted.

"Huh?" Elisa questioned. How'd they find her so fast?

Another snowball hit her. She swayed back, but was able to find her balance. Elisa lowered herself onto another branch. The onslaught of snowballs finally came. The brunette slipped off the branch, and onto her back in the snow. When she opened her eyes, the kids circled around her, each carrying a snowball. "Fine, you win," Elisa sighed.

* * *

She latched herself onto Manly's back, ranting in his ear that friends don't use friends as a shield. "I'm sorry, okay!" Manly sighed. "I wasn't thinking."

"_Clearly_!" Elisa argued. "You wouldn't have used your beautiful, gorgeous besty otherwise."

"Beautiful gorgeous?" Manly question.

"Beautiful, gorgeous, _and _brilliant."

"Your right," said Manly. He called to Gwyn, "Sorry, 'bout that Gwyn!"

"You suck!" Elisa shouted, grabbing Manly's hair and shaking him.

Elisa hopped off Manly's back, and dusted off her coat. "See you tomorrow, then," said Manly.

"Yeah," Elisa nodded. She waved to Kirk and Gwyn. "See you later!"

"See you!"

"Bye!"

"Bye," Manly smiled at Elisa.

"Bye."

Elisa turned to Reno, Jamie and Sophie were already buckled inside. That was when Elisa noticed it, the frost on her windshield. And more accurately, the drawing on it of a sick figure sitting in a tree. She stared at it, as she buckled herself in. "Hey, did either of you draw this?" she asked.

"No," Jamie shook his head. "Jack did. I asked him not to tell us where you guy's were hiding. But with you, he got around that by drawing it."

"Oh… Well, I need to see out of this thing. So…"

Washer fluid sprayed across the window, as Elisa flicked the wipers on. "Who want's fish sticks?" she asked.

"I do!" cheered Sophie.

* * *

Baste opened the cabinet behind his desk. In it, were countless, purple marbles. There was enough magic in each marble to grant a human their wish, what they desired. But they were rarely used. Wishes, and wish fulfillment was very dangerous. Baste only allowed himself to grant 'small' wishes. Like, 'I wish for a sunny day.' Or, 'I wish I could find my math book.' Something that was a passing thought for most humans.

But, wishes, good or bad, were the desires and dreams of a person, whether they realize it or not. There was some value to that. These wishes made them human.

"Mr. Oskner," the receptionist said. "We're having an issue in the Sunrise Department again."

"Etoile," said Baste.

"She's gotten into a fight with Ursa."

"MiM, give me strength," Baste muttered.

Chairs, and portraits were damaged as the two woman beat each other against the wall. Ursa Oskner took Etoile by the hair and beat her against one of the table. Her face had a few visible scratches over her eye from Etoile's nails. Etoile, on the other hand, had a bleeding lip.

"You can't just be happy that you have a place!" Ursa yelled in Etoile's ear. "You don't see anyone else in Sunrise complaining!"

"What would you know?!" Etoile yelled, pulling herself out of Ursa's grip. "Not all of us can sleep our way to the top."

Ursa slapped her hard across the face. "Do not accuse me of being a common whore!" Ursa growled. "Then again, you would know all about that, wouldn't you?"

That did it for Etoile. She knocked over Ursa and began beating her in the face. "All right, break it up!" Orion shouted. The dark haired Star easily lifted Etoile off Ursa.

"What's going on?" Baste demanded. His eyes fell upon his wife. "Ursa."

"I'm fine," Ursa stood up.

She was bleeding out the nose, and her left eye was swollen shut. "No, you're not," Baste took her arm. "You need to get your eye looked at."

"I'm _fine_," Ursa hissed. Pulling her arm away, she walked off, muttering to herself.

Sighing, Baste looked to Etoile and Orion, then to the rest of the Sunrise Department who were watching. "Everybody take twenty," said Baste. "I need a word with Etoile. _Alone_."

One by one the lingering Star's filed out of the room. "I'll be outside the room," Orion said in a hushed tone to Baste. He glared at Etoile. "Just in case."

"Thank you," said Baste. "That won't be necessary."

The door closed behind Orion, leaving the North and Morning Star's on their own. Etoile crossed her arm's over her chest, glaring at Baste. "She started it," said Etoile.

"I doubt that," Baste said harshly. "Because most fights started in my building, are from you. Most of my problems are rooted to you, Etoile."

"It's not my fault!" the woman shouted. "No one-"

"See's you," Baste finished, his voice was beginning to rise. "The problem is, that dose not hold water anymore!"

Exhaling, Baste pinched the bridge of his nose. He was at the end of his rope with Etoile. He couldn't put up with her tantrum's anymore. He could not put up with her childish behavior anymore. Baste was about to do something he has never done as the Wishing Star.

"You're fired."

Etoile paled. "Wh-What?"

"You heard me, Etoile," Baste looked up. "You're fired. I'll allow you to live here, but you are no longer working for me."

"B-But," Etoile stuttered. "You can't do this to me!"

"I can," Baste said firmly. "And I did. Ursa has a point, Etoile. You don't see anyone else in Sunrise putting up as much as a fuss as you do. Everyone involved is at the end of their rope."

Anger flashed through Etoile's eyes. She slapped Baste across the face. The woman muttered something in French and walked off.

A few seconds later Orion entered the room. "You did, the right thing, Baste," he reassured him. "If I may, she's been here for far too long."

"Did I, really?" Baste asked him. "That was the first time I actually had to fire someone…"

"Etoile was out of control," said Orion. "If it's to the point where she was picking fight's with Ursa, it was time to draw the line. Believe me, it was the right thing.

Sighing, Baste reached behind his back for his ponytail. "Then why do I suddenly have a bad feeling about this?" he asked.

* * *

**Authors Note:** I swear, it won't be much longer until Elisa meet's Jack.


	5. Chapter Four

**Chapter Four**

Sunday morning rolled around, this time with a phone call from Elisa's mom, Ava. "Mom?" Elisa grumbled, holding her cell phone to her ear. Sliding on her glasses, she found Jamie and Sophie sitting in front of the TV, flipping through chancels. "What time is it?"

"Ten," Ava replied. "Were you still sleeping?"

"I just dozed off," Elisa lied.

"Well, I just wanted to check up on you, see how things were doing."

"Fine, mom. The kids are watching TV and Mrs. Bennett should be back today."

"Also," Ava continued. "I wanted to tell you that Mark and Stella are having an ultrasound next Sunday."

Elisa perked up. She couldn't for get the fact that her brother and his wife were expecting. "It's a 3D ultrasound," Ava added.

"3D?" Elisa repeated. "Aren't those expensive?"

"Stella's family's paying for it. Don't worry, they said the room's big enough to fit us all in."

"Oh, okay."

"We can talk about it more tonight."

"Oh, wait, I might be a little late coming home," said Elisa. "I'm going to see a movie with Manly after."

"Will you be able to?" asked Ava. "If-"

"Mrs. Bennett said she'll be back by one at the latest. Her flight should've landed by now. It's just the drive back."

"All right," Ava said with a slight sigh. "I'll see you lave. Love you."

"Love you," Elisa said before she pressed the 'end' button.

Of course, that movie thing was a lie. Elisa wasn't about to tell her mom that she was getting a tattoo behind her back. Actually, she wasn't about to tell her that this was her _second_ tattoo. No doubt, she would be grounded for life after that.

"Elisa," Jamie snapped her out of her thoughts. "Can I play something on the Wii?"

"Only if it's a party game," Elisa smirked. "'Cause I want in."

A little later, after Elisa changed out of her PJ's, and packed her things into her backpack, the trio sat along side each other on the floor playing _Mario Party 9._ Sophie was the first to select her character, Princess Peach, Jamie had dibs on Mario, and Elisa decided to play as Yoshi.

They were playing for the better part of an hour when the phone rang, right in the middle of _Boo's Horror Castle_. "Pause it, pause it," Elisa said, getting onto her feet. She answered the phone. "Hello?"

"Elisa?" said Mrs. Bennett. "Everything going okay?"

"Yeah," Elisa nodded. "We were just playing a game."

"Okay. I'm just stopping for gas right now. I should be back in… an hour at most if the roads are good."

"Sophie'll be happy about that," the brunette smirked. "Well, we've got everything under control here."

"All right, I'll be back as soon as I can," said Mrs. Bennett. "Bye."

"Bye," Elisa said. She hung up the phone and walked back into the living room.

"Who was that?" asked Jamie

"Your mom. She'll be back in about an hour."

Sophie suddenly bounced in place, clapping her hands wildly. She started pouting when Jamie reminded her that they had a bit of time to wait. In order to distract Sophie, they continued with their game. When _Mario Party _grew tiresome, they switched to _Mario Kart_. Sophie struggled with this game, she always came last, or second to last. Eventually, she quit and went to coloring as the older kids continued.

"Don't mess up," Elisa taunted. "Don't mess up."

"I'm not gonna," Jamie replied, his eyes locked on the TV screen.

They both jumped when Abby started barking. The front door opened, revealing Mrs. Bennett. "Mommy, mommy, mommy!" Sophie chanted, barreling into her mom.

"Hey, Soph," Mrs. Bennett knelt down, running her hand through Sophie's hair. She looked up at Elisa. "Everything went all right?"

"Yeah, of course," Elisa said, standing up. She dusted off the back of her overly large 'Hello, my name is Awesome,' shirt. Okay, so _maybe_ it was Ian's shirt. "We had a couple of snowball fight's over the weekend-"

"Both Elisa lost," added Jamie.

"And when they wanted to do their own thing, they did their own thing."

"I can't thank you enough, Elisa," Mrs. Bennett said. "You're a lifesaver."

"It's no problem. It was a blast on my part too. Do you need any help with your bags?"

Mrs. Bennett shook her head. "No that won't be necessary," she pulled out her wallet, and handed Elisa her pay. "There's your usual pay for the week, plus an extra twenty for the weekend. I'm from Monday to Thursday this week, so you'll have the weekend off."

"Okay, that really works out for me," the brunette smiled. "So, I'll see you tomorrow, then."

"I should be back by seven, seven-thirty at the latest."

After Elisa said her good-bye's to the family she dumped her belongings in the back of Reno. She called Manly, and the two were discussing their tattoo design's in minutes. "You sure, you want to do this, Elisa?" Manly asked, as he looked through the parlor's book of designs. "I mean if you wanna back out, I'm okay with that."

"I'm not backing out," Elisa said. "I've been looking forward to this all week."

"Y-Yeah, me, too,"

Elisa could tell Manly was getting nervous. Both, Elisa and Ian were shaking in their boots when they got theirs. "Don't worry, about it," Elisa said, patting his hand. "It's not as bad as they say."

Manly smiled weakly. "You never told me what you wanted for your birthday," he said suddenly.

"Hm?"

"It's next weekend, right?"

"Oh, yeah. I dunno, a trip to Pizza Put, haven't been in ages."

"Seriously?" the boy asked in disbelief. "You know what, before the basketball game next week, I'm kidnapping you and we're going shopping."

She sighed. "If you insist."

"Have we made out decisions yet?" one of the artists asked.

"I have," Elisa said, pulling her hair back into a messy bun. "Manly?"

"Ye-Yeah, I guess."

By the time they left the parlor, it was mid to late afternoon. Manly's hand was shaking, after having to hold it still for so long. "See, was that so bad?" asked Elisa. She pulled out her hair tie.

"No, it wasn't. So what'd you get?"

The brunette girl pointed to her right shoulder. "Butterfly. You?"

"Virgo sign," Manly said, showing her his wrist.

Elisa shrugged at that. Not what she would've chose, but, okay. "You wanna do something before heading home?"

Tempting," Manly said. Glancing to the side, he gripped his chin. "But I gotta pass. I told my mom I'd shovel the driveway after this."

She sighed. "Sure. I'll see you tomorrow, then."

Manly gave her a wave then walked off to his car. With another sigh, Elisa slid her hands into her jean's pockets. She walked forward until her foot caught onto something, and she fell forward onto the snowy sidewalk. "Oh, Elisa!" an all-to familiar voice caused Elisa's skin to crawl. "You know you gotta be careful in the winter."

Standing herself up, Elisa wiped he snow off her jeans. She turned around to find Mindy. "Man, are you a complete fake," Elisa said, brushing a bit of hair away from her mouth. "I'm really beginning to wonder if your made of plastic."

"_Fake_?" Mindy repeated.

"You know what I mean," Elisa continued. She began to yuck it up, complete with fake tears. "'Oh, be careful Elisa, even though I'm the one that tripped you! Why must you always blame _me_?! It's not _my_ fault I can't get on with my life and let it go!' Which is rather pathetic. That cheerleading tryout's was a year ago, and you still can't let it go? Wow, Mindy. Just wow. I hate to see what happens to the guy who dumps you."

"Were you just implying something?" Mindy asked harshly.

"Yes. I just implied that you're an obsessive, selfish bitch."

"You don't know anything about me!"

"I know that you're pathetic enough to mess with a little girl."

"You're really not holding back on this, are you?"

"Well, I'm just giving you what you disserve."

"Oh, really?" asked Mindy. "You know what I think you disserve?"

Without warning Mindy pounced on Elisa and begin clawing at her face. Grabbing Mindy by the wrist, Elisa gave it a twist. Mindy let out a high pitched yelp, then slapped Elisa with the opposite hand. Elisa pulled Mindy's wrist to the side, throwing her off her torso.

Elisa rolled onto her knees, and stood up, when Mindy's leg swiped into her, knocking her back down. Blinking, Elisa realized her glasses had fallen off. "Great," she muttered to herself.

Mindy suddenly launched herself onto Elisa's back. Elisa forced herself onto her knees, and allowed the pair to fall back. She put her weight into her upper body, Mindy groaned. She intertwined her fingers in Elisa's hair and began pulling at the roots. Screaming, Elisa rolled off Mindy, and rose her fist above her head. "That's enough!" someone shouted, grabbing Elisa by the writs.

Elisa looked up to see a man with graying brown hair that had a slight curl to it. It was her uncle, Mike, the coach of the girl's ice hockey team. "Oh, thank you!" Mindy said, pushing herself onto her knees. "Elisa went nuts!"

"Bull shit!" Elisa shouted. "You attacked me!"

"Elisa that's enough," Mike said, pulling his niece onto her feet. "I don't care who attacked who, you were raised better than this, Elisa."

"She started it! It was self-defense!"

"You egged me on!" Mindy shouted.

Elisa pulled her arm out of Mike's grasp. "Only because you can't leave well enough alone!"

"Elisa!" Mike said harshly. "Your mother raised you-"

Mindy suddenly screamed. Mike and Elisa turned in her direction to find Mindy clutching the front of her shirt. The fabric had turned dark from the water of melting snow. Mindy glared daggers at Elisa. "How'd you do that?!" she demanded.

"Do what?"

"You… You put snow down my shirt!"

Elisa and Mike exchanged looks. "Miss, I was talking to her when that happened," said Mike. "She couldn't have done it without me seeing."

"She put snow down my shirt!" Mindy insisted. "I don't know how, but she did!"

"Perhaps you should go."

"But-"

"I'm not going to say it again."

With an angry shriek, Mindy stormed off. Elisa looked up at her uncle. She couldn't see his expression very well without her glasses. "You gonna tell mom about this?" she asked him.

Mike let out a low sigh. "No," he shook his head. "I can't hold anything against you if you were just trying to keep yourself safe. Do you need help find your glasses?"

"No thank you, I got it."

He left asking Elisa to tell Ava he said hi. Elisa looked at her reflection in a store window. Her nose was bleeding a little, it must have stopped by now. There were nail marks going down her cheeks. "Could be worse," Elisa sighed.

Dropping to her knees in search for her glasses, Elisa thought back to what Mindy said. That she put snow down Mindy's shirt. The obvious answer to this was that Mindy did it herself. But, after the incident with her car, something told Elisa that Mindy wasn't that fond of ice or snow at the moment.

Immediately she recalled her conversation's with Jamie. About Jack Frost. In an attempt to rid herself of the thoughts, Elisa shook her head. When she opened her eyes, the store window was now coated in frost. There was a drawing of the store's door, and a pair of glasses to the left.

Elisa could feel her pulse quicken.

"_It was Jack!"_

"_Jack?"_

"_Jack Frost!"_

"_You don't believe me."_

"_Can I ask you something about this Jack Frost, Jamie? I'm curious. How'd you meet someone like Jack Frost?"_

"_When this pictures he drew on the window frost came to life."_

"_Hey, did either of you draw this?"_

"_No, Jack did. I asked him not to tell us where you guy's were hiding. But with you, he got around that by drawing it."_

"Come on," she heard someone behind her complain. "How much more obvious could I make it? Jeez…"

Elisa found herself afraid to turn around all of the sudden. Afraid of what she would find, afraid of what she would think. She looked by the store's entrance, sure enough, there were her glasses. She cleaned them of the water and snow before placing them back on. Standing up, Elisa slowly turned herself around.

Standing behind her was a boy, a bit taller than herself. He was pale, with hair as white as snow, and striking blue eyes. He had on a blue hoodie with frost around the collar, and tattered brown trousers. In his hand, was a wooden staff that resembled a Sheppard's hook.

The boy must have realized Elisa was staring at him, he had a blank look on his face, his own eyes locked on her.

"Jack Frost…" Elisa said, just above a whisper.

The boy was surprised to hear this.

"You can see me?"

* * *

"All right, we're going to need more Angry Bird plus toy's," North ordered as the yetis scurried about. "I want a double check on our inventory of scooters. Someone check the tire pressure on the bikes."

"And the elves are swimming in the paint again," Carol said casually.

"And the elves are swimming in the paint again…. What, really?"

"Really dear."

Carol loved her husband like no other, but North easily over-looked things as Christmas drew closer and closer. Of course, it being December, things were getting pretty hectic.

"Right, right," North muttered as Carol headed back into the kitchen. "You heard the lady, someone get the elves out of the paint."

"Tis the season," a familiar voice said from behind. "Right?"

North whipped himself around to find a familiar blonde man, in the yellow suite. "Baste!" North said, gleefully. "Carol, get the oven headed, we got a guess."

"Please, North, that's not necessary," Baste said quickly.

"Not necessary?" Carol repeated marching up to the Star. "We haven't seen you or Ursa in ages. You should have brought her along."

"Aye," North agreed. "I'm sure you're boy would've liked a visit. But you couldn't have chosen a worse time to drop buy."

"And for that I do apologize," Baste said, placing a hand over his heart. "If I thought I could wait, I would have put this off until January. But…"

"I don't like that but. What's on you're mind, Baste."

The blonde man brought his hands in front together in front of him. "I cannot begin to tell you how much I hope that I'm wrong about this," he began. "But I'm afraid one of the Star's is about to go rogue, from there I don't know what she'll do."

"Well, she can't be that dangerous," said Carol.

"For year's I've had to put up with her rage, her co-workers are scared stiff of her. I… I'm afraid for the children…

Baste and North locked eyes for a moment. After a long, tedious moment of silence, North nodded. "I'll call the Guardians."

* * *

**Authors Note: **Yes, I gave North a wife, because I could. I would have felt dirty not to.


	6. Chapter Five

**Chapter Five**

This was probably a first, for Jack. Not the fact that someone around his own age could see him for a change, but having a believer just go blank. He was positive Elisa could see him, the fact that she was staring right at him made it evident. But after Jack spoke, Elisa went into a near-catatonic state. Eye's wide, mouth hanging open, pale as a ghost. With the minutes ticking by, rather uncomfortably, Jack waved a hand in front of Elisa's face. "You still there?" he asked her finally. She flinched slightly. "Good, now we're getting somewhere."

Her mouth opened a little wider, she uttered a squeak. "Okay, seriously, Elisa," Jack said with a roll of the eyes. "You keep that up, and bird's are going to build a nest in there."

This seemed to snap her out of it. Elisa took a step back. "How do you know my name?" she asked

"Really?" Jack asked dully. "After all you've heard this weekend, you really have to ask that?"

"Wait you were-"

"There, yes. I was there for a good portion of the weekend."

"How do I know you're not just saying that?" Elisa asked.

"That girl you were just fighting with," Jack began. "Her car was iced over on Thursday."

"Anyone could've seen that."

"Okay then. On Friday, when Jamie explained what happened, he ended it by saying that you didn't believe him. You replied with 'I don't know.'"

Elisa blinked at him, dumbfounded. "But…" her voice trailed off. "I didn't see you…"

"Because you didn't believe in me," said Jack. "We can't be seen unless we're believed in."

"_We?!_" Elisa's voice cracked. "As in there's more of you?!"

By now a few shopper's had stopped in their place, to stare at Elisa. Her turned read upon realizing what she must have looked like. "Touch your ear for yes, and your eye for no," Jack said. "Agreed?"

Elisa pretended to sift a lock of hair behind her ear. "We'll talk somewhere private, and I'll explain to you what I can," said Jack. "I'll follow you to your place, and we'll talk in your room. You do have your own room, right?"

She tucked a bit of hair behind her ears. Holding her head as high as she could, Elisa forced herself to move towards her car. She thought she was doing well, given the circumstances, as she drove home. She had question's for him, of course, however the only thought that ran through her head was, _'Holy-crap-holy-crap-holy-crap-holy-crap-holy-crap-holy-crap.'_

This suddenly, completely overshadowed her new tattoo. Elisa still didn't understand why she could suddenly see Jack, when she couldn't earlier in the weekend. What did he mean by 'we?' Had he always been around? Why was he hanging around the Bennett's? How long had he been at the house? Too many questions at once.

At long last, she pulled into the driveway of the Anderson-Hill residence. A two-story, six bed room house, including a garage, with an apartment above it.

While Elisa's older brother and sister, were old enough to live on their own when Ava and Lewis got married, Lewis had three kids from his first marriage. Needless to say, after they got engaged, they needed a bigger house to fit all four kids, plus the occasional visit from Jo when she's on school break. Of course, the move meant Elisa had to leave her childhood bedroom, but she adjusted.

Elisa reached in the back for her backpack, and exited Reno. When she look up, she jumped in surprise to find Jack hovering ten feet above her. She could see his shoulder's shake as he chuckled. _'Glad to see someone's amused by this,' _Elisa thought, rolling her eyes.

Composing herself, Elisa pointed to her bedroom window, the last window on the left. Jack gave her a thumbs up. Exhaling, Elisa made a B-line for the front door. As soon as she opened it she was greeted by Lindy, and Todd, the family dogs. Lindy was a Yorkie, and Todd was a Great Dane-Newfoundland mix. "I'm back," Elisa announced.

"Great," Ian said, getting up from the couch. "Can I use your car now?"

"Can I have twenty bucks?" Elisa asked.

"Da-ad!"

"Ian, Elisa got her license first, if you want your own car, save up the money," Lewis said, looking up from his laptop. "Elisa doesn't _have _to let you use _her_ car."

That was the problem of having a couple of stepsiblings around the same age. When the time came for them to start driving, they could only get one of them a car. Lewis and Ava could only get one for one of them. That choice was easy to make when Ian failed the test three time, while Elisa passed on the first try.

"Fine," Ian grumbled, pulling two ten dollar bills out of his wallet. He handed them to Elisa, with a surprised look on his face. "Is that my shirt?"

"Maybe," she replied dully.

She fished her key's out of her pocket, which Ian snatched out of her hand. "Where's mom?" she asked Lewis.

"In the kitchen showing Maya how to bake banana bread."

"Really?" Elisa perked up.

"It's not done yet."

"Damn it…"

Kicking off her boots, Elisa walked into the kitchen to find her mom, and younger stepsister, Maya standing side-by-side, preparing a couple of loaves of banana bread. "Hey, mom," Elisa approached the two. She tussled Maya's light brown hair. "Hey, squirt."

"Did you have fun?" asked Ava.

"Yeah," Elisa shrugged one shoulder. "Mrs. Bennett said she's not working on Friday, so I'll have the weekend off."

"Isn't that nice. Oh, where do you want to go for your birthday dinner?"

"Pizza Put."

"Yeah!" Maya beamed. "Please, Ava!"

Ava glanced down at her stepdaughter. "It's Elisa's choice, it's her birthday."

"And Elisa chooses Pizza Put," said Elisa.

The eight-year-old punched the air. "Whoo-hoo!"

The brown haired teen opened the fridge, and pulled out a few leftover pizza slices. "I think I'm gonna turn in early tonight," said Elisa. "Long weekend."

"You sure, honey?" asked Ava. "You just go home."

"Yeah. I'm tired and it's a school night. I'll watch a movie and turn in."

"All right."

Elisa was almost afraid to go to her room. Jack was most likely waiting outside her room, her second story bedroom window. Going to her room would mean that she couldn't deny that Jack Frost was right there, waiting for her.

Her room was painted light purple (her favorite color), with light blue carpeting. Her bed was against the wall by the window, opposite the door. By her bed was a small desk, with a DVD player and TV resting on top. Her rack of DVD's was beside the foot of her bed. Her dresser was beside her closet. On Elisa's bed was the orca plush toy she had since she was four.

Being the momma's girl she was, Elisa was heartbroken when Ava went to Florida for the Hill family reunion. Elisa ended up sleeping in Jo's room while Ava was gone. When she finally returned home, she gave Elisa the orca toy.

_Knock, knock, knock!_

Elisa looked up to find Jack tapping his knuckle against the window. Dropping her back on the floor, and the pizza onto the bed, she walked up to the window, and pushed it open. "Is talking in my room really a good idea?" asked Elisa.

"Would you rather talk in the street with everyone looking at you like your crazy?" Jack asked in response.

"Fine, fine, point taken. Okay, so, why can I suddenly see you, if I couldn't earlier."

"Because you didn't believe in me earlier," Jack replied, looking around the room. "I can't be seen by people who don't believe in me."

Elisa thought about that for a moment while she munched on her food. After talking to Jamie about Jack of the weekend, then seeing the picture in the window must have made a believer out of her. Or did she just want to believe it? Maybe it was a little of both. "So, that thing with Mindy getting snow in her shirt…"

"That was me," Jack said proudly. "I just happened to be passing by when you two got in that fight. She was trying to play the victim, so I dropped a bit of snow down her shirt."

"And her car…?"

"Had to get back at her for what she did to Sophie."

"And you cheated during the snowball fight by telling the kids where I was hiding."

"Hey, I wasn't cheating anymore than you were."

"You threw the snowball that hit me first, didn't you?" Elisa accused.

Jack shrugged, with a cheeky grin on his face. "Guilty as charged."

Unzipping her bad, Elisa dumped the contents out. "You said 'we' earlier," she said, pulling her blanket and pillow out from the pile. "There's more like you."

"Well, there's only one of me to go around," said Jack.

"Such a shame," muttered Elisa.

"But the 'we' I was referring to were the Guardian's of Childhood."

"Huh?"

The pale boy placed his free hand in his hoodie pocket. "You know what," he said, smirking at her. "Why don't you take a guess at who they are."

"What? Why? This is the first I'm hearing about this."

"Just take a moment to think. If Jack Frost exist, then who else could?"

Her face twisted in confusion. If Jack Frost exists who else could? Who else could…

It finally dawned on her. Her heart began racing in her chest with excitement. She could feel the corners of her mouth tug into a smile. "Santa Claus," Elisa said, just above a whisper. "Easter Bunny… Tooth Fairy… Sandman…"

"Told you, you could figure it out," Jack smiled.

"So-So…" Elisa found it difficult to think straight. "They all exist?"

"Yeah, the same applies to them too," said Jack. "They can't be seen unless someone believes in them."

"Wait, why were you hanging around the Bennett's then?"

"Because Jamie's my first believer," he glanced to the side a bit. He had a smile on his face when he looked back up at her. "Never thought a teenager would believe in me though."

She didn't need to ask to know what he was talking about. Teenage believers probably didn't happen. Even then, they had to be getting younger and younger. Elisa smiled a bit. "It's gotta be an interesting sensation to talk to someone around your own age then, huh?" she asked.

Jack had to laugh at this. He hadn't spoken to someone his own age in centuries, but, even then, he always gravitated more towards children. But still, it was nice. "Yeah, just a bit," he smiled. "Okay, let's mix this up a bit."

"Huh?"

"I get to ask, you a question."

"Sure," Elisa nodded.

"Why'd you lie to Jamie?"

"What?"

"When Jamie realized you didn't believe him, you just replied with 'I don't know.' Why?"

This surprised Elisa. She hadn't been expecting this when Jack said he wanted to ask her something. Well, what should she say? "I thought it'd be better than saying that I didn't," she replied. "Why should I ruin it for someone just because I didn't believe?"

"Most kids wouldn't have any problem saying otherwise," said Jack.

"Nope," Elisa agreed. She pulled her knees up to her chest. She smiled. "You realize he's going to be excited when he finds out right?"

"Oh, yeah," the white haired boy smiled.

Elisa stared at Jack. He really didn't look any older than she was, but there was just some vibe she got from him that told her that he had been around for a while. That he was something of an old soul. Jack really seems to like the Bennett siblings, so he seemed like to gravitate towards kids. There was something really sexy about a guy who liked kids.

Yeah, Elisa was not going to deny it. This guy was cute. Really, _really _cute. Which meant Elisa had a cute guy in her room. A delightful bonus.

She arched her bow, and tilted her head to the side. "Can I touch you?" she asked.

"See for yourself," Jack said, holding his hand out in front of him.

She stood up, and took a step forward. On the first step, she found herself hesitant. This was the guy that iced Mindy's car. What was to stop him from doing something like that to her? "Don't worry," Jack said with sincerity. "I'm not gonna hurt you."

Gulping, Elisa stepped forward. She lifted her hand, and aligned it with Jacks. There he was, like anyone else. Someone who couldn't freeze car's or fly. "You're so cold," Elisa said before she could stop herself.

'_No duh he's cold!' _Elisa yelled at herself mentally. _'The name kind of implies it! Then again he probably doesn't notice. He's not even wearing shoes for Pete's sake!'_

"Yeah," Jack drew his hand back, and rubbed the back of his neck. "Kinda come's with the job."

Elisa glanced out her window. The sun had already set, and the sky was now inky black. She noticed something in the sky, blue-green lights dancing amongst the stars. "Cool!" Elisa said, walking up to the window. "I've never seen the Northern Light's this clear before!"

Jack looked over her shoulder. Taking Elisa by the arm, he lead her away from the window. "I gotta go," he said.

"What? So soon?" she asked, disappointed. She looked from the sky, to Jack, and back. Were the light's signaling something for him? "What's going on?"

"I'll explain later," Jack said, inching towards the window. "I'll try to be back by the time you're both out of school. If not… well, let's hope it doesn't get to that."

With that said, Jack leaped out of the window, and took off flying. Elisa stared at his retreating form, mouth opened. Reality as she knew it was suddenly turned on her head. Santa, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, and the Sandman, they were all real. Growing up, and possibly even to this day, Elisa hated to be corrected, or proven wrong. But, for once, she so glad to have been wrong.

Closing her window, Elisa realized the giddy smile on her face.

"How am I supposed to sleep now?"

* * *

"All right, here better be trouble brewin' mate," Bunny complained upon arriving at the workshop. "Comin' all this way in the dead of winter…"

"Not even for a hello from an old friend?" Beste asked, walking up to the Pooka.

"Beste," Bunny smile. He approached the Star and offered a hand to him. "Haven't seen you in ages, mate!"

"Sorry, 'bout that," Beste shook hands with him. "A Star's work is almost as busy as Sandy's or Tooth's."

"Lemme see 'em! Lemme see 'em!" Tooth suddenly appeared, forcing Beste's mouth open. "Yep, still shining like the stars! You're definitely taking care of them. How's the little one doing? He's brushing, right?"

"Yush," Beste said, mouth wide open. He gently pulled Tooth's hand away from his mouth. "Ursa and I have him on a brushing routine."

"Excellent!"

"So, what's the problem this time?" Jack said, announcing his arrival. Close behind him was Sandy, with a friendly smile, and the word 'hi,' forming above his head.

"Look's like Frostbite decided show up," mumbled Bunny.

"Yeah, missed you too, Kangaroo," Jack shot back. His eyes fell upon the man in a yellow suite. "Who's this?"

Beste smiled at the white haired boy. "Jack Frost," he said walking up to him. Beste held his hand out in front of him. "Heard a lot of good thing's about you. Beste Onsker."

"Huh?"

"Jack," Tooth suddenly appeared at his side. "Beste's a Star. More accurately, he's the Wishing Star!"

"Or North Star," the blonde man added. "Which ever you prefer."

Jack gave him a small smile, and shook hands. "So, you grant children's wishes, then," he said.

"Not always," said Beste. "Wish-fulfillment is rather dangerous."

"Huh? How?"

Filling his cheeks up with air, Beste held his breath for a moment. He exhaled. "Say I child wishes for their divorced parent's to get back together," he began. "I'd have to get into a messy discussion with Philo. I'd have to alter reality to bring their parent's back. Or, say they wished that their dog wasn't dead. Well, I'd personally like to steer clear from Charon, getting into an argument with him is always mess. But, again, I'd have to alter reality. And then there's the repercussions. What if the parent's getting back together deprives them of their _true_ loves? What if the person who hit the dog had a choice to make? Hit the dog, or get into a deadly crash with another car. And then…"

Beste let out a heavy sigh. "Even if they didn't mean it, we get handfuls of people wishing death upon others."

The Star shook his head. "No, it's just better to grant small wishes. And that's why the world doesn't need a Guardian of Wishes."

"Oh, good! Everyone's here!" Carol said. She suddenly arrived, with plate's of cookies in her arms. Close behind, her, was North. "Everyone eat up, there's plenty. And Jack, you look like you could use a few extra pounds."

"No thank you, Carol," Jack said, holding his hands up. "I'm fi-"

"Oh, hush!" she scolded, popping a gingerbread man, into his mouth, head first. "First thing to remember, boy, a woman is always right."

"Think I'll pass on the cookies, Carol," said Tooth. "All that sugar's not good for my teeth."

"Of course, Tooth, dear, I understand."

"Can we just get this show on the road?" Bunny asked North. "Your not the only one with a deadline to meet."

"Yes, yes, don't get your short's in a knot," North said with a wave of the hand. "Beste's the real reason we're all here, so I'll let him take it."

"Thank you," Beste smiled. "This could easily be nothing, but I do not want to risk it. Now, recently I had to fire one of my workers."

"Now there's a first," said Bunny. "The Man in the Moon okay with that?"

"Yes," the Star nodded. "He's the one that convinced me to leave the office. Right now, Ursa's taking care of things for me."

"Ursa?" asked Jack.

"My wife. You may know her better as Ursa Major. Anyway, one of the workers, Etoile, the Morning Star, has been known to have a terrible, terrible temper. Her coworkers in Sunrise are scared stiff of her. Just before I fired her, she was in a fight with Ursa."

"I don't see what the problem is there," said Tooth. "You fired her, didn't you? Problem solved, right?"

A question mark appeared above Sandy's head, as he nodded in agreement. "I may have fired her," Beste nodded. "But, I'm rather afraid she might come down, and take out her anger on earth."

"And you're just going to let her do that?" asked Jack.

"I can't keep an eye on her every hour on the hour. Especially since she's not working for me anymore. I was just telling Bunny our job's almost as busy as Sandy's and Tooth's."

"So you want us to bring this, Etoile, back when she drops buy?" Bunny asked, his arm's crossed over his chest.

"No," the Star shook his head. "I just want you to keep an eye on her. If she needs let it out, I'm not going to stop her."

Jack gripped his staff tight. Beste wasn't sure if she would just take out her anger the way he hoped. Even in the twenty minutes he's known the Star, Jack could tell that he was nice. But maybe he was a little _too_ nice.

* * *

**Authors Note:** A couple of note's about mentioned characters. Philo is Cupid. If I make a sequel to this, I defiantly want to include him. There's a big maybe to that. And Charon is the Grim Reaper. In Greek Mythology Charon is the ferryman for the River Styx.

Also, longest, chapter yet! Wh00t!


	7. Chapter Six

**Chapter Six**

"Elisa… Elisa… Elisa!"

She pushed her head off the desk to come face to face with Mr. Brandon, her social studies teacher. "You know class isn't for sleeping," he said to her.

"I… I wasn't sleeping," Elisa said, rubbing her left eye.

"Then what was I just talking about?"

"The signing of the Declaration of Independence."

"That would be a good answer… If we were discussing the American Revolution. We're going over the Vietnam War."

Elisa began to feel her face heat up. She sank into her chair. "Not one of your better moments," Kristy muttered.

"Not kidding…"

After pretty much finding out that reality as she knew it was out the window, Elisa found it increasingly difficult to get any sleep last night. She kept wondering when she would see Jack again. What other mythical figures were real. If the Northern Light's were really signaling him for something.

But, the longer she stayed awake, and went about her day, the more it seemed like a dream.

On the upside, she had one more class left. When the final bell rang, Elisa walked alongside Kristy to their lockers. "What's up, Elisa?" the blonde girl asked. "You never fall asleep in class."

"Imma just tired," she yawned. "Couldn't sleep last night."

"Ah, holiday stress," Kristy concluded.

"Sure, let's call it that," muttered Elisa.

"Hey," Gwyn greeted. Her brown arched when her eyes fell upon Elisa. "Something happen in class? You're face is flushed."

"She fell asleep in class," Kristy said proudly.

"Oh, like you haven't," Elisa shot back.

"In study hall, and they knew I was juggling cheerleading, homework, and a custody battle."

Elisa had to look away from Kristy. She almost forgot about the messy divorce her parent's were in. Especially the custody battle. Thankfully, in the end it worked out all right, and Kristy and her brother's are living with her dad.

"You know what's incredible?" Manly asked, suddenly appearing at his locker.

"The fact that there's an author worse than Stephanie Meyer," Elisa replied, as Manly searched his locker. "And said shitty author can write something that actually outdoes _Twilight_ in the misogynist department."

Elisa's friends fell silent for a few moments. "Yes," Manly answered finally. "But not what I was talking about. No, what's incredible is that my hardcover pre-cal book fell out of my bag, and I'm just realizing it now. And now, I can't find the damn thing."

"And isn't your class on the opposite side of the school?" asked Kristy.

"Thanks for reminding me," he sighed, slamming his locker closed. He glanced down at Elisa. "I'm still kidnapping you on Friday."

"Oooh," Kristy cooed with interest. "What'd she do?"

"Nothing," Manly chuckled. "I'm just taking her out shopping to choose her birthday gift before the game. And then she get's to sit in the front row."

"You doing anything this weekend for your birthday?" asked Gwyn.

"Probably going out after Stella's ultrasound," said Elisa.

"Then we've gotta have a little party on Sunday," Kristy beamed. "Just us and Kirk, and maybe a couple of others."

"With a weeks notice?" asked Elisa.

"Dad's has a Christmas party to go to."

"Come on, Elisa, it'll be fun," said Gwyn.

"Eh… sure. Gwyn's right, it'll be fun."

"At least I get to kick start Elisa's birthday weekend," Manly said, pulling Elisa into a one-armed hug. "Hey, how 'bout we go to Dunkin Donuts after school? I'd say it's cold enough for hot coffee and a couple of doughnuts."

"Gwyn and I have cheerleading practice," Kristy said, taking a pompom out of her locker for emphasis.

"And I think Kirk's has an appointment at the eye doctors," said Gwyn.

"Okay, then," Manly huffed, with a bold smile. "Looks like it's me and Elisa."

"I'm babysitting." said Elisa.

"Then bring them. Don't worry about it, I'll buy them whatever they want."

"I've got an essay to write," Elisa explained. "To make up for falling asleep in class."

"Fine," Manly sighed in defeat. He seemed pretty disappointed at this. "I gotta go if I want to make it to class on time."

The girl's waved good-bye to Manly. Elisa glanced over at Gwyn and Kristy, both girl's had a knowing smirk on their faces. "Why hadn't I realized it earlier?" Gwyn asked herself.

"I know," Kristy agreed.

"What?" Elisa asked, shrugging her shoulders.

"Manly likes you," Gwyn beamed.

"Duh. We're friends."

"Oh, shut up, you know that's not what I meant."

Elisa shook her head. "You're crazy," she muttered.

"No! I'm making perfect sense," Gwyn insisted. "That whole Dunkin Donuts thing. The guy was hoping we'd have other plans! And did you see his face when you said you couldn't go?"

"You're nuts," Elisa insisted. She got her sheet music out of her locker then slammed it closed. "Very, very nuts."

"Think about it."

"Whatever," Elisa groaned, walking along-side Kristy.

Gwyn was nuts, Elisa decided. Completely nuts. Manly was just her best friend. They went back as far as middle school when he moved to Burgess. Elisa invited him over to their table during lunch. He was her best friend, that's all there was too it. Besides, she already had too much on her plate at the moment.

Elisa and Kristy walked along side each other on their way to the music room. Kristy and Gwyn became friends since they both joined the cheer squad. Inevitably, Gwyn introduced her two friends. It just fueled Elisa's irritation for the 'cheerleader's are bitches' trope.

The music room had large instruments stashed in the back. Three stair steps went down surrounded an old piano on the low floor. Elisa and Kristy took their seats on the bottom floor. There were three chorus classes, middle school, high school, and an advanced high school choir. This last choir required an audition after school towards the end of the year, and would be judged by those already in the choir. Elisa, had always liked singing and music as a hobby. She auditioned for the advanced choir the previous year for the heck of it. She was happy so long as she was in a choir. To her surprised, she made it.

The pair silently made their way to at couple of free spots. Elisa dropped her bag at her feet, and got her folder of sheet music out. "You sure you wanna have a little get-together at your place?" she asked Kristy.

"Yeah, it's fine," Kristy nodded. "I'm sure dad won't mind."

The bell went off, and Miss. Griffin entered the room. "All right, we've got a week left until the concert," she said, seating herself at the piano. She began playing one of their warm-up numbers. "So between now and then, I want your complete focus. Now, 'Tailor and the Mouse.'"

The class flew by most of their songs. The one that required the most work was their big finale. Which wouldn't be so bad, if the class didn't want to do it a capella. "I need a drink," Elisa sighed.

"At leas you're not the one with cheer practice," Kristy replied.

The final bell rang. "I got to go," Elisa said, swinging her bag over her shoulder.

As soon as Elisa left the school parking lot and made her drive to the pre school Elisa made two mental notes. First; she was exhausted, she didn't want to go to school tomorrow. Second; as the day went on, it seemed like last night was a dream. It wasn't that Elisa didn't believe it happened, it just happened too fast. She needed a bit more time for it to really sink in.

After picking up Sophie from pre-school Elisa made a quick stop at the gas station for a couple of two-liter bottles of soda in an attempt to keep herself awake. Somehow Sophie managed to talk her into buy a box of Little Debbie Holiday Snack Cakes. When they finally arrived at the house, Sophie ran from Reno to the front door, with her arm's to the side, while making her best jet plane noise. A suddenly whistle caught Elisa's attention. She glanced up to find Jack on the roof. He placed a finger to his lips, to which Elisa nodded.

Sophie continued her game of jet plane, all while still wearing her coat and ski pants. "Hey, kid," Elisa said, as the blonde little girl ran past her. "We need to get your winter gear off."

"Gotta catch me, first!" Sophie squealed.

"Sophie!"

Thus began a game of chase around the house. With Sophie's small size, she got the upper hand quickly. However the little girl quickly grew hot in her winter gear. The game ended with no victor.

As Elisa helped Sophie out of her coat and ski pants, she heard the school bus pull to a stop in front of the house. Within seconds she could hear the two boy's conversing. "I didn't see you last night," she heard Jamie say.

"Thing's got a little busy," said Jack.

"Something with the other Guardians?"

"An old friend of theirs just dropped by to say hi."

"So what do you got planned today?"

"Eh…" Jack's voice trailed off. "Thinkin' about dropping a snowball down Elisa's shirt."

The girl in question suddenly opened the front door. "Do that and I'm getting a torch," she said crossing her arms over her chest.

"Well there goes my day," Jack said, with a wave of his hand.

Jamie looked from Jack, to Elisa, then repeated two times more. "You can see him?!" Jamie exclaimed. "Since when?"

"Last night," Jack replied.

"He helped me find my glasses," said Elisa. "Guess you got to me, kid."

"This-This…." Jamie's smile widened. "This is-"

"Great! Great! Great!" chanted Sophie.

"Yeah, what she said! No! Better! It's awesome!"

"Hey, settle down," Jack said, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder. "You look like you're about to pop."

"I'm just excited!" Jamie beamed. "One of the coolest teens I know is actually in on my secret."

"Mine too!" Sophie insisted. "Mine too!"

"But mostly mine."

"Hey!"

Elisa and Jack both laughed at the siblings outburst. All of this may have been a little strange, and maybe, as of two days ago, impossible. But it was incredible. The magic wasn't gone, it was hiding from her. Hiding because she couldn't see, because she didn't believe, because life clouded her vision.

This was real. Jack was real. The Guardian's were real. Elisa was having a moment of clarity. She didn't want her vision to be clouded ever again.

* * *

**Authors Note:** More time with Elisa's friends… Sorry if you were expecting more.


	8. Chapter Seven

**Chapter Seven**

Tuesday morning rolled around. When her alarm began blaring Elisa waited no time, slapping the snooze button. _'Ten more minutes!'_ she whined mentally.

The thunder of feet pounding the stairs echoed in the hall. Elisa could make out two sets of foot falls, but couldn't place who. Behind the first two, came a third. "SNOW DAY!" she heard Rick, her stepbrother, yell.

Her bedroom door suddenly opened. Todd, laying down by her bed on the floor, lifted his head and groaned. "Hey," Ian said, poking his head into her room. "School's canceled, I'm meeting some friends at the pond for a hockey game. Can I use your car?"

Elisa lifted her head up. She could make out Ian's blurry figure. "What do you think I'm about to say?" she asked him.

Ian let out a low groan, and slammed the door shut. With that out of the way, Elisa lowered her head back into the pillow, and snuggled in. This was great, she could actually sleep in today.

Her cell phone begin ringing. Groaning, Elisa reached onto her bedside table for her cellphone. "Hullo…" she said.

"Elisa," Mrs. Bennett said. She sounded a little frantic. "You've seen the news?"

"No. But Rick and Maya had no problem telling me."

"I'm sorry. I have to head to work in a bit, could you-"

"Watch Sophie at least?" Elisa finished. "Yeah. I'm gonna hop in the shower, and head over."

"Thank you. Thank you. Thank you," Mrs. Bennett chanted.

Upon hanging up the phoned, Elisa grumbled into her pillow. So much for sleeping in.

* * *

Orso seated himself at the edge of the premise. It seemed like he was gazing down at the earth blow him a lot lately. Well, there was a good reason for that. Orso had never set foot on Earth. He had been up hear, over looking the Earth, but always under the watchful eyes of MiM for as long as he could remember.

The boys thoughts were interrupted when he felt a couple of hands on his shoulders. Before he could react, Orso slid off the edge. He began thrashing about like a cat as he fell into the earth's atmosphere.

Etoile stood, watching the boy screamed for his life, for help. She smirked. Served them right, Beste and Ursa _deserved_ to lose their son. Besides, it was about time that boy grew a backbone. A trip to earth would give him just that.

All Etoile wanted was a little sympathy. She was beautiful, she was a precious treasure, yet she was left ignored by the humans. Very few marveled at her beauty but came out at night to gawk at the Constellations and Beste. She wanted sympathy, she deserved sympathy. But these bigheaded Stars never gave her any.

That family, they could rot for all she cared.

* * *

Elisa waved good-bye to Mrs. Bennett as she drove out of the driveway. She was about to head into the house when Jamie and Sophie both darted out of the house. Rolling her eyes in a self-deprecating way, Elisa closed the door.

"So, did I deliver, or did I deliver?"

Jack sat on the fence, leaning against his staff. "Delivered!" cheered Sophie.

"Yeah," Jamie agreed. "Keep this up, and we could have two snow day's in a row."

"We'll see," Jack replied.

"Wait," Elisa said, walking up to the fence with her arm's crossed over her chest. "You did this? Wait, why am I asking this? I just answered my own question."

"Jack and I had this planed for a few days," Jamie explained, rubbing the back of his neck. "My class was supposed to be having a hated substitute today so…"

"Over night snow storm," Jack finished. He shrugged, giving Elisa a cocky look. "It pays to have a friend like me, don't it?"

"Ain't I lucky," mumbled Elisa. Wait a minute, they _planned_ this? "Why didn't either of you tell me this earlier?! I wouldn't have needed to hurry through my homework last night!"

"Sorry," Jamie chuckled weakly. He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "I kinda forgot in the excitement."

"I had three ding dang paper's to write!" Elisa whined with a dry sob.

"'Ding dang?'" Jack asked with a chuckle. "How old are you, five?"

"Sophie's listening, Snow Mister."

"Snow Mister?" Jamie asked. "Really, Elisa? That's the best you could come up with?"

"Well, obviously I'm not one to make nicknames."

"Still, _Snow Mister_?"

Elisa rolled her eyes. Perhaps she shouldn't complain. With her homework done yesterday, she had more free time today.

"Lookie, lookie!" Sophie chanted, pointing at the sky.

Three set's of ice glance up. A yellow streak stood out against the grey clouds. It fell downwards like a stunt plane. While Elisa couldn't see what, she knew it wasn't a plane. There was something ethereal about it. It was close though, close enough to land somewhere in Burgess. But what was it? A meteorite? A piece of a satellite?

The yellow streak landed in the woods, just outside of town. And, despite it being so close, the town's people went about their business as usual. The only people to notice it, were the local children. "What was that?" asked Elisa.

"It's gotta be alien contact!" Jamie said, bouncing in place. "Someone from a far off galaxy must be here for recon!"

"I don't think so bud," said Jack. He glanced back as Jamie and Elisa. "You guy's sit tight here. I'll go check it out."

Groaning, Jamie crossed his arm's over his chest. To which Sophie mimicked. Without another word Jack leaped off the fence, and straight into the air. He quickly disappeared into the trees. Elisa absently wondered if Jack would be alright on his own. But she probably knew the answer to her own question. Of course he would be okay. He was a Guardian after all.

"So," she said, breaking the silence. "Anyone want to make a snowman?"

* * *

"WHERE IS SHE?!"

Etoile's bedroom door was forced open. The brown haired woman had one of her previously hidden knives in her hand. Before the blonde Star could fight back, Ursa pinned her to the wall, holding the blade against her throat. "Where is he?!" Ursa demanded. Venom was just dripping from her mouth.

"Figure it out yourself," Etoile said calmly.

Growling, Ursa tighten her grip. Etoile's face twitched in pain. The dark haired woman was defiantly living up to her namesake in strength. The strength of a woman willing to protect her child. "I'm not going to repeat myself," she said.

"Neither am I."

A dangerous glint flashed through Ursa's eyes. She was about to run her knife across Etoile's throat when a third woman entered the room. "Ursa!" the woman, Andromeda shouted. "Ursa stop!"

"Not until I fix the Etoile Problem."

"Ursa, Orso's on Earth. Beste's doing what he can to locate him."

Beste's wife tore her eyes from Etoile to glance at Andromeda. She looked from her friend, to Etolie, and back. "You better hope he's unharmed."

Etoile slid down onto the floor as Andromeda lead Ursa back to the office. She laughed under her breath before running a hand through her hair. "They're all weak," she said through her low laughter. "Every last one of them."

* * *

Orso hugged himself. He stood up. Snow began to fall off his person. He landed face first in the frozen water. He was pushed, that much was certain, but Orso couldn't really make out _who_ it was. Though, he had a hunch.

"Now what do I do?" he asked himself.

He didn't know how to get from the office to Earth like Beste did. He didn't have the ability to travel. How was he supposed to help himself?

The sudden crunching of snow got his attention. Panicked, Orso found himself unable to move. An older boy with white hair, wearing a blue hoodie leaped down from the trees. "Huh…" Jack uttered. "Can't say I was expecting to see a kid here."

Orso stepped back. The fear in his eyes must have been pretty apparent. "It's okay," Jack reassured him. "I'm not go anything. I just came to see what fell. Was it you?"

The boy nodded. "That must have been some fall then. Do you know how to get back?"

"No…" Orso shook his head. "Mom and Dad are the only one's who know how to get to Earth and back."

By now Jack knew better than to think this boy was some ordinary kid. For starters, he could see him. While Jack's number of believers have steadily improved since becoming a Guardian. But his number was still very minuscule in comparison to the other's. Even with the damage to repair after Pitch's actions.

Second, the boy was way too underdressed for winter, and dressed too sharply for everyday Burgress. What, with the white dress shirt, yellow vest, and matching slack. He looked like he came from an upper-class family.

"Your parents, huh?" Jack asked, sliding a hand into his pocket. "Who're they?"

"Beste and Ursa Oskner."

Jack's eye's snapped wide open in surprise. "Wait, Beste has a kid?" he asked frankly.

"You know Dad?"

"I only met him once, the other day," the white haired boy explained. "He mentioned your mom, but didn't say anything about having a kid."

A bright smile played on Orso's lips. "Then you're Jack Frost!" he said. "I heard there was a new Guardian, but I haven't met him yet. I didn't think you'd be this young though…"

"What? You were expecting some old busybody trying to make his next deadline?"

"Kinda."

"Not this Guardian," Jack said boastfully, while gesturing to himself. "This Guardian's all about fun times."

"I'm Orso, Usa Minor," the young Star introduced. "You wouldn't happen to know how I can get home, do you?"

"Sorry, kid," Jack sighed. "I can't say that I can. But, if Beste realizes you're missing, I'm sure he's working hard to find you. Until then, you oughta stick by me."

"Okay," Orso nodded.

"All right," Jack offered him his hand. "Why don't we get outta here?"

Nodding again, Orso took Jack's hand. Within seconds, the two were lifted into the air, and headed towards the town.


End file.
